Gooden said he asked his players if they understood why people were protesting. They responded, “Because Black people are getting killed and nobody’s going to jail,” he told the news outlet.

The coach huddled his team to talk about what’s going on across the nation and about kneeling during the national anthem, a demonstration against racist police brutality started by NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick.

“One of the kids asked, ‘Can we do that?’ I said, ‘As long as we know why we’re doing it, I don’t have a problem with any of it,’” he recalled, noting that all the parents supported the decision.

KTVI said Gooden’s wife received backlash on social media over her Facebook post about the demonstration. It could be the first salvo in a barrage of hate from people who view this type of demonstration as disrespectful.

That’s what happened last year when the Beaumont Bulls, an 11- and 12-year-old football team, exercised their right to protest police brutality.